Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-230) and index

What is time? -- Cyclical time and linear time -- Abstract time -- Calculus and the idea of determinism -- The discovery of the past and the idea of progress -- The age of the world -- Entropy and the direction of time -- The five arrows of time -- Relativistic time -- Cosmic time -- The beginning and end of time -- What is time?

This volume explores Western views on time from ancient Greece through the Middle Ages, going on to modern scientific concepts, including relativity, biological time, cosmic time, and whether there is a beginning (or an end) to time. Starting with ancient cyclical theories of time, the author moves on to more modern topics such as the theory of linear time, the notion that velocity is a function of time (introduced by Galileo), Newton's mathematical explanations of time, the laws of thermodynamics in relation to time, and the theory of relativity

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